Haaretz: Greek move against boats was born of Netanyahu campaign for Greek financial rescue

Can you think of a more dismal day in recent months? Do you feel powerless? Do you know where the power lies? From Barak Ravid’s report, “Netanyahu’s big fat Greek wedding,” in Haaretz (thanks to Noam Sheizaf at 972):

Many of Netanyahu and Papandreou’s talks in the past few months have revolved around the severe financial crisis Greece is currently suffering. Netanyahu recently decided to come to the aid of his newfound friend in a meeting of foreign ministers and European leaders, imploring them to provide Greece with financial aid.

“Netanyahu has become Greece’s lobbyist to the European Union,” an Israeli diplomat said.

In recent weeks, as efforts to stop the impending pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza came to a head, Netanyahu reaped the benefits of his investment in Israel-Greece ties and his gamble on the European country paid off.

He was able to create a viable alternative to relations with Turkey in several regards, showing Erdogan that Israel will not hesitate to become close to its greatest enemy in the West.

And when the moment of truth came, Greece followed through and ordered all Gaza-bound departures be blocked from leaving its ports.

107 Responses

extremely powerless. i’ve had a headache all morning and i rarely get headaches. it’s quite distressing to have them crudely cut off at this juncture. i’ll read the rest of the post now. i just had to comment after reading your intro.

Not necessarily. If Israel has nothing to offer the negotiations end in a week.
the Palestinians have the option of going to the UN regardless.
It is all about trumping the lobby with the weight of world opinion.

I agree concerning the powerlessness, but I don’t trust Barak Avid. Power relies to a large extend on the image of power. We do not know who is pressuring behind the scenes, it could be even the US it could be the EU. Bibi’s chance in this context is, that they would hardly want to go public with it.

The statement about his lobbying for Greece is of the same value. The EU can’t allow Greece to go bankrupt, with or without Bibi’s lobbying.

Greece is insolvent. Israel has nothing to do with the latest bailout. The markets don’t want a default and the EU got a last minute deal together.

WTF does Barak Ravid know about EU bond markets?

anyway why don’t the flotilla decide to sail to Italy ?
And then change course in the open Med.

“Netanyahu recently decided to come to the aid of his newfound friend in a meeting of foreign ministers and European leaders, imploring them to provide Greece with financial aid.
“Netanyahu has become Greece’s lobbyist to the European Union,” an Israeli diplomat said.’

Pure fantasy. The FT is the newspaper of record for this stuff and this hasbara wouldn’t make it in the tea room.

Just imagine the ridiculous diplomatic/financial extremese Israel and the US mst have gone to in order to make this happen?

None if this is sustainable in the long term. The Lobby is using everything it had to enforce Israel’s position, but they are simply prolonging the inevitable. The house of cards is going to fall, and fall big time.

Yep. The bailout of Greece, hence the interest in stopping the economic hemorrage of a string of Western countries and the losing vitality of the euro, depended on–the Greek regime agreeing to arrest US non-violent freedom riders on the Audacity Of Hope from traveling to Gaza to protest the illegal Israeli blockade and seige of the Palestinian people there. Israel First at any cost to the world. I’m so proud Obama & the international banksters allows this, rather than
being on the boat–what an ironic tribute to the courage and smarts of his mother, whom he described as a “lonely secular humanist.” And to his virtually unknow father, who railed against Western exploitation of the colored folks around the world.

the simple fact that our country is too small to rebel against the global market forces alone. The Swiss franc has become the plaything of the weak dollar and the euro crisis. This is the price paid for the land in its current location for the European policy alone.

Global market forces are unmanageable.
If Bibi is such a genius how did so many Jews lose everything with Madoff?

Switzerland is a small country and cannot take the huge flow of funds coming from the US dollar and euro markets.
The value of the frankli went up tremendeously, causing problems for the swiss industry. The same problems the US had 45 years ago before Nixon removed the dollar from the gold standard and let it plumet 70% in a few years.

MY SNARK: I wonder if Israel “sweetened the deal” with a few shipments of tear gas for the Greek government. (see below)

FROM Ynetnews, 12/14/08: … Greek authorities contacted Israel this weekend with an urgent request for teargas grenades to be used against the wave of riots that broke …
SOURCE – link to ynet.co.il

FROM World Tribune, “Greece is out of tear gas; turns to allies for more”, 12/16/08: … Officials said Athens has turned to Israel, Germany and other European Union members for non-lethal, anti-riot equipment. They said Israel has a huge arsenal of tear gas for military and police operations in the West Bank. Greece and Israel have increased their military and security cooperation over the last five years …
SOURCE – link to worldtribune.com

Oh no, you made me laugh! I was only wondering while listening to reporters and demonstrators in Greece yesterday – they were describing everything we’ve read here about that Israeli stuff! So cynical, but so damn true!

If the Greek Embassy read the posts on Ynet they might feel ashamed of helping Israel. The remarks target the Greeks to the point that one might think that these Israelis were speaking about Palestinians. It is obvious that Israelis hate the Greeks so what is Greece doing. Cutting its own throat?

It’s not hard to come to the conclusion that those who support a Greater Israel , the blockade, the Occupation, illegal settlements, illegal annexation, illegal acquisition by war of Palestinian territory, have a tendency to hate everyone and show less than respect for the most basic tenets of Judaism.

It ain’t over. Greece can’t hold them indefinately, eventually they will need to cut them loose. In fact I’m curious about what reasoning the Greek Coast Guard used to stop the boats leaving Greek waters?

Surely the law in Greece says that if you hold a boat against its will it has to be for valid legal reason. It’s full of humanitarian aid not drugs or illegal immigrants and its not entering Israeli territorial waters so the question is what reason have the Greek given for commandeering the vessel?

Anyway the Greek’s obviously can’t keep a bunch of Americans and their American registered boat in Greece and not let them leave. Also another reason to be glad when the Greek PM is toppled by the revolutionaries at the gates to his palace. He a treasonous dog for the Economic effects he has had. This just gives me another reason not to like him.

Anyway the Greek’s obviously can’t keep a bunch of Americans and their American registered boat in Greece and not let them leave.

Actually, I suspect they can. They will simply charge the captains, owners and perhaps even the passengers with conspiracy to break a “legal blockade.” It could be months before that gets sorted out. In the meanwhile the boats are quarantined and the crew under house arrest.

Turkey and Israel are making nice(ish) again, Greece is in hock, Italy’s Berlusconi is fairly pro-I, France, Sarkozy’s trying to get I/P negotiations up again instead of statehood declaration, Spain’s in nearly the same boat as Greece financially. Which leaves the Southern Med, and maybe only Tunisia would be an appropriate launching pad. That’s probably too far west, and leaves a bunch of NATO navy ships to sail thru’!

The traders and hedge funds who have driven Greece to the brink of insolvency would bring down the US if they could make enough out of it. John Paulson made $20bn shorting subprime debt and he doesn’t care how many Americans lost their homes.

They are like hyenas. When the time comes they will short (ie attack) Israel. High Finance is about finding weaknesses and destruction and Israel is less than 1% of global GDP and a successful attack would be very profitable.

Bibi spins for the Israeli public. “I am your prime minister” “I control the markets” It is something deep in the Zionist psyche that is really dysfunctional that he appeals to .But is is BS.

Seafoid I do not understand why you are so resistant to the notion that Israel has influence over international bond markets. The Zionists had influence with Turkey 100 years ago because of this. Rothchild in 1917 had big influence in Britain during the Balfour declaration and no one would argue that he had no influence over the bond markets.

Of course no one accuses Israel of causing the Greek debt crises. Nor does Israel have the economic power to solve it today. But that is not to deny that there are important forces in the international bond markets with strong Zionist sympathies. I could see some of these players trading a few basis points for a favorable Greek decision on behalf of Israel.

Just because none of us knows what is going on during the Greece-EU debt negotiations does not mean that something is going on. Greece is under tremendous pressure from the whole capitalist world today. They are desperately seeking the best deal possible. It is only natural that they would use a few powerless, idealistic activists as bargaining chips in those negotiations.

What is important is the incredible price that the Zionist forces are willing to expend to stop this one flotilla. In order to stop a movement that costs us a few hundred thousand dollars, they are willing to expend billions.

There are 2 things about rich Zionists working in the finance markets, Toivo. They will do anything for Israel and they would sell their own mothers, if it meant they got a decent spread.
They are not spending their own money bringing Greek bond yields in because Bibi ordered them to. Bibi is a moron and the markets know that. The whole Haaretz story is a total joke.

talking about the jews having financial control of anything is supposed to be heresy…. funny how this story unfolds and how the order is maybe coming from the usa, and possibly indirectly thru netanyahu and israel… does make one wonder about who controls what monetarily and politically and how much they are connected to one another…

i have always asked the question – who owns the federal reserve? a book called ‘creature from jekyll island helped clarify a lot of this question, but it seems many people including those in the usa are unaware of much of the history behind the federal reserve and the bank of england for that matter..

does financial control, or power account for much? indeed, i think it does.. i am curious to watch how this all unfolds and hope more people learn about the workings of financial power around the globe… this is really what the story on greece is all about too…….. sorry to see the flotilla being sidetracked temporarily… they will come back and won’t be stopped.. this is just a short term interruption..

what i wonder about is the lengths IS/US will go to get their way and the means/power to sway governments when stopping a little itty bitty pesky flotilla is worth flipping the EU on behalf of funding greece. (or whatever they did). now the chances this will go mainstream is zilch. but it happened, something happened. they planned months in advance and decided to become friends with a different country after what happened last year. the country, greece being in financial straights. had there been no flotilla i wonder what would have happened last week. but aside from that why does israel have that much power? why does that little itty bitty country decide to ‘help’ or ‘save’ greece and then have their way with greece? it’s weird. and if they can do it with greece (over a flotilla for heavens sake) who else can they wrap around their finger? it’s bothersome to say the least. i reject the framing of the jews having financial control but in this instance the EU had the power, israel did whatever it is israel does, and the EU pushed the money thru. or maybe it was a combination of the US and israel i don’t know. but it’s too much. it’s too much to think of greece making it or breaking it financially over bending wrt a flotilla.

ANNIE- “what i wonder about is the lengths IS/US will go to get their way and the means/power to sway governments when stopping a little itty bitty pesky flotilla is worth flipping the EU on behalf of funding greece.”

Annie, if the Godfather lets a “little itty bitty pesky flotilla” get away with defiance, others may be encouraged to defy empire. A message is being sent. There is a price to be paid. And if defiance continues, the price to be paid will go up. Count on it. Welcome to the world of realpolitik and straight power concepts. When push comes to shove, the masters of the universe don’t f*** around!

Annie, you don’t need to believe in the Protocols of The Elder of Zion
with all that baggage, most heavy with Auschwitz ovens, or in an international Jewish banking conspiracy, complete with the history of the Rothschilds clan, all behind closed doors, to see the connection that is so obviously there between bailout of the Grecian regime and arrest of the Audacity Of Hope. Does quid pro quo ring a bell? And Who Benefits?

JAMES- “…it seems many people including those in the usa are unaware of much of the history behind the federal reserve ….”

Pity isn’t it? The prevailing economic mythology has done an excellent job in obfuscating and misrepresenting economic and financial reality so that “experts” can manipulate the system for the benefit of their rich patrons with minimal scrutiny or political interference. Money is power. Economic power in fluid form, the primary instrument of social control. The reality is that our large population requires a complex society which can only be organized around money. In short, it is not possible to fully understand how our society functions without understanding the role of money in social organization and social control. Once one comprehends that our money supply and financial system is in private hands for private profit, everything else falls into place. Rather than the financial system serving the real economy, the real economy is held hostage to the profit seeking machinations of the financial system. An unsustainable, debt based monetary system, I might add.

Globalization is little more than the establishment of rules, procedures and financial dependencies which lock nations into the matrix of oligarchic financial control. Wall Street and the transnational corporations rule. Independent civil society is starved for funds. So too Third World economies which don’t play by Wall Street’s rules. Greece is a relatively small country that is under economic assault by the financial oligarchs with the intent to impose an IMF type structural adjustment. Crumbs for the citizens, interest payments for the US/EU banks. The Greek oligarchs wish to placate the banksters for their own selfish reasons, however, the Greek people would be better off defaulting, which will happen eventually in any event. Hopefully, enough citizen resistance will stop neo-liberal globalization in its tracks. The US is under assault now and needs to join in the fray.

In most countries the National Bank is owned by the land, also the people.

Our Federal Reserve has nothing to do with our government, but is owned by private banks and can do what it wants, within limits.

I think it is time the FR will be taken over by the government before we go bankrupt for good. We must be the only country in the world where private bankers decide the monetary well being of our nation.
You also don’t find many baptists running the Federal Reserve.

Yep, James, I’ve had the same thoughts. Thank you for sharing them. Who needs a cartoon back-room conspiracy when we have The Creature From Jekyll Island (an old southern vacation home spot for elite banksters & imperialists still around) and M & W’s more accurate version of simply being aware of who has convergent main interests similar to one’s own?

Damn Israel. That pimple on the world’s backside isn’t even IN the EU, so I can only think it’s been huffing & puffing and blowing hot air, but successfully bluffed Greece into kowtowing. Lance that bloody boil!

Bumblebye, the Grecian regime wasn’t seduced by Israel, but by Bibi’s demonstrated and even admitted ability to control any USA regime. Do you think the Greek regime’s leaders didn’t note those 29 standing ovations in the US Congress for Bibi? The solitary US vote in the UN against forcing Israeli accountability for the illegal settlements? And so on. No, Bibi was not blowing hot air, and that’s why the flotilla has been stopped in its tracks. AIPAC rules and the Greek regime knows it.

Could the flotilla of peace still set sail for Sryia? I’m sure there might be a few folks over there who would appreciate Americans who care about them too. They may not be Palestinian or Jews, but they’re being butchered daily by the regime. They need a Mondoweiss and a Max Blumenthal to help out.

24 Syrians killed today alone by Assad’s thugs. There is no flotilla for them. There is no press coverage of any stripe. A straggling leftist like Dennis Kucinich helps props up a corrupt regime. This is a regime where the bodies of children who have been tortured to death are returned to their family in a public forum. Why public? To create fear and panic which is the regime’s last weapon.

Annie, I do not feel I am wasting my time, just as members of the flotilla may not feel they are wasting their time sipping ouzo under the sun.

I’m convinced “all sides” believes they have justice on their side. It may be easy and it may be true to say that zionists like me use Syria as a lens to distract from the topic. But it is also true that this topic of mass murder in Syria…. moving into the thousands by now, with thousands displaced, with a regime using dead children to sow fear and panic in the population… that this topic needs to be covered. More than covered. That progressives should care about mass murder under their very nose at this hour.

Why biorabbi, if you really care about the Syrian masses, you better contact AIPAC since they control the US Congress to the tune of 29 standing ovations for Bibi and a lone UNSC vote at the UN. AIPAC, hence the US, is not going to trade the current Syrian regime for the luck of the draw in an Arab Spring.

Syria is a vile regime. Israel is a vile regime. The difference is that Israel is supported by eight million dollars a day from the USA alone, whereas Syria is subject to sanctions. That’s why ‘progressives’ are more concerned about some ‘mass murderers’ than others – Zionism saturates our society, not Syrian Ba’athism.

Yep, jaynot, further, the Americans do not give Syria loan guarantees every time Syria’s economy goes down the tubes, as we give Israel, and Syria does not hold lots of American memorandums of understanding that amount to materially propping up Israel everytime it say it feels threatened, nor do we joint trade agreements with Syria, nor hi-tek and energy cooperative organizations, in all of which Israel takes and we give, and so on.

Chaos, so Starvation is the key criteria? Is Hamas starving? Looks like their leaders score higher than 25 on the BMI index to moi. They look well fed and full of rockets of peace.

Fraternal Brother Assad has killed 2000 Syrians for sure(and who knows how many unmarked graves exist. Over a hundred killed this week. 24 in the last 24 hours. Kucinich expresses the progressive ethos quite perfectly. He kisses the Syrian strongman as the Syrian strongman’s own brother butchers his own people.

biorabbi, you are prioritizing a conflict that’s been going on for a few months over one that’s been going on for decades based on activities occurring today, last week and last month. we all know you are not that concerned with syria anyway because you are here. so please spare us your hypocrisy.

Where was biorabbi complaining when Israel was dropping bombs in Syria? If he cares so much about the Syrian people. Do we hear him talking about the Syrians that were killed or run out of the Golan Heights?

He’s a liar and a hypocrite. This is like Hitler whining about what Stalin is doing in Poland.

BIORABBI- You are so full of crap! Israeli propagandist! Syria is a military intervention, not a citizen uprising. “What is unfolding in Syria is an armed insurrection supported covertly by foreign powers including the US, Turkey and Israel. Action against Syria is part of a “military roadmap”, a sequencing of military operations. According to former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark-the Pentagon had clearly identified Iraq, Libya, Syria and Lebanon as target countries of a US-NATO intervention:
“[The] Five-year campaign plan [included]. a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan” (Pentagon official quoted by General Wesley Clark)”link to dandelionsalad.wordpress.com

You know biorabbi, if your buddy Bibi started killing some jewish Israelis, that would get your attention, wouldn’t it? for example, if yahoo et al start going after the lefty Israelis and shoot ‘em up a bit, like they do in Syria? or maybe the IDF will get serious and tear gas and beat up some settler thugs? should he do all that that would make it more like Syria.

Last I saw, Assad is not kicking out Turks or Iranians or armenians or some other minority off their land so he can distribute to his own allawi buddies. But that’s what they do – and did – in Israel. So you shouldn’t be comparing apples and oranges.

Flottilas form in response to ethnic cleansing and putting people in Gulags, like Gaza.

yesterday was a good day for BDS though. Punk Rock decided to take some time out……

biorabbi,
Any flotilla to Syria would be arrested too, with US regime backing behind the scenes and in abstract diplomatic language–the reason is the same: Israel would want that, which, in turn, is because, although Israel hates the current Syrian regime, they think it’s better, safer than a more full Arab Spring grabbing Syria.

hey biorabbi, here’s some fun news for ya. as phil mentioned earlier re site disclosure, i’m on the west coast flotilla media communications team. someone has hacked into heddy’s epsteins account humping for syria, just like you. this just came thru, naturally i thought it might interest you.

hedyepstein Hedy Epstein · Follow
born in Germany in 1924, will be on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, part of Flotilla 2, her fifth attempt to reach Gaza. Since 2003, in the West Bank 5 times.

one of the team:

someone cracked into a twitter account and is fake posting as Hedy. Go
to link to twitter.com, you won’t see those tweets.
Hedy did *not* tweet that. All those tweets are fake.

you’re a tool, busted. do you always follow your team leaders meme? at least i identify who i’m working with.

btw, this was AFTER the ‘change of plans’ email came thur, i think the person who first published it to the group believed it. but thanks to you i responded to the group w/this

who wrote this tweet? the reason i’m asking is some zionist trolls on some of the comment sections at mondo keep humping the line the flotilla should have gone to syria since it’s so much worse that gaza. so this makes me suspicious

i’m emailing phil and adam. i think all the future flotilla/syria and ‘syria worse than gaza’ posts should be deleted. there’s no reason we should be printing shit generated out of israel’s foreign ministry.

What I find amazing is Israel thinks the rest of the World is as stupid as the Tea Party. This Spring Link TV ran a number of documentaries as part of their fund raising. One of them was on the Tea Party. They showed a “training” on trying to manipulate online boards. The description on the show is not materially different in what we see here and on the Daily KOS.

You may recall Daily KOS got egg on its face for saying Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account was hacked. Given former Rep. Weiner’s strange non-denial denial on Rachel Maddow and a timeline that wasn’t a smoking gun made me be more circumspect and wait for the facts to roll in. Here the timeline is much more suspicious where the trolls did not have the self-control to wait for the account to be hacked. And the non-denial denial was the Israeli Consul on Democracy Now yesterday. There he would not deny the terrorist attacks on two ships and nor did he guarantee safe conduct for the Democracy Now! journalists and wrongly portrayed the ban as for local media only.

What we see here is the real Net Roots in action unlike the faux one. It’s international, young, technically savvy, and controlled by no government or corporation. The attempts to influence by the paid trolls is just as clownish and transparent as were the paid trolls of the Mubarek regime.

The dark side parallel is also there with respect to state-sponsored terrorism. The Seventh Day newspaper showed evidence from documents captured from Egyptian security that the Interior Ministry was behind the Two Saints church bombing trying to foment strife between the Christians and the Muslims. Problem is the Christians didn’t buy it just like the Christians don’t buy it in Palestine. El Adly tried in vain to use the “terrorist threat” to thwart the protests in Cairo on the Sunday prior to January 25th revolution starting.

“The information we had before the attack led us to detain the group and seize weapons, ammunition and documents related to Al-Qaeda as well as maps of places of worship in Upper Egypt and Alexandria in their possession,” he said.

Sound familiar?

Regardless of who is behind it the requirement that Greece do Israel’s bidding as a condition for an economic bailout looks like just another instances of the Shock Doctrine. Just like there has been a new synthesis between labor and progressive activists on other topics we should pursue one for the Palestinians. Labor was a key component in the Egyptian revolution going the way it did.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Israel. The old “public diplomacy” doesn’t work so well, does it?

. The Seventh Day newspaper showed evidence from documents captured from Egyptian security that the Interior Ministry was behind the Two Saints church bombing trying to foment strife between the Christians and the Muslims.

wow, i had not heard of that but suspected it all along. same with one of the big the church bombings in iraq. often times these big bombings create huge propaganda boosts for the opposition and it sure as hell seems coordinated.

You may recall Daily KOS got egg on its face for saying Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account was hacked.

not really. i don’t really have the time to follow many of their diaries anymore. i skim the titles of the ip list and pick and choose. what’s obvious to me is the zionist meme never travels very far from the regular hasbara talking pts and they’re generally all in sync.
dead giveaway.

The cable, from August 2008, said: “Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a ‘hot line’ set up between the MOD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use.

“Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim President if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated.” The Tel Aviv diplomats added: “We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman.“

Most of you will remember Suleiman as our go to guy for outsourced torture, err extraordinary rendition.

“As chief of the Mukhabarat, or General Intelligence Directorate,” said John Sifton, who authored the 2007 Human Rights Watch report on torture conducted by Egypt’s other intelligence agency, SSI, Suleiman oversaw joint intelligence operations with the CIA and other Arab countries “which featured illegal renditions and tortures of dozens of detainees.”

According to British journalist Stephen Grey, author of “Ghost Plane,” a book about the CIA’s rendition program, Suleiman agreed in 1995 to let the U.S. secretly transfer suspects to Egypt for questioning. Under “extraordinary rendition,” terror suspects can be taken to third countries and interrogated without oversight by the U.S. criminal justice system.

Say, Annie.
I had my own little thing with some certain tweeters, about that time, too. One guy (who IS following and possibly being followed by flotilla members) calls himself NetanyahuPM, or something of the sort. And, there are others with similar names (I will look them up after my kids come and go, this afternoon). They started with me, and with each tweet, would add another zionist Izrahelli, to attempt to scare ME (haha- I don’t scare easily). In no time, flat, I had a gaggle of goons surrounding and threatening me from the bastard-state!! Perhaps it is due to my big mouth, but they do go after me often.
Anyway, one of the guys said they were playing “Pingo”, with ME, and though I looked up every definition of pingo, in different places, I did not see a “game” with that name.
Any idea what PINGO is?
Re: the “syria worse than gaza” posts; that’s part of the GAME (maybe not the pingo game but the zionazi game).. Deny, Distract, and Threaten. In my case, Threaten seems to be the option employed most often.
I laugh…

I just sent the article to the Greek Counsel General in San Francisco, where I have now communicated for the third time this week. The Haaretz article here allowed me to link the two issues in comments I have been wanting to link all week. I hope all find my comments of interest. Thank you.

“Consul General Ioannis Andreades and staff I am in San Francisco: The attached article suggests something radically wrong on both issues. Keynes is certainly rejected in your economic plan. And it is clear the once vision of the Socialist International, that the PASOK is a member of, means nothing today and has nothing to do with the party of Norman Thomas here in the United States that I once joined. Justice for the peoples of the land of the western religions is rejected in your Prime Minister’s relations with the Israeli Prime Minister. How does a prime minister manage to sell out his own people and the people of the Middle East in one big effort? This can only come from a colossal lack of vision and a lack of sense of any constructive purpose. The details of correcting these issues can only be destructive unless you develop better set of premises that involve something other than bankers being at the center of the solution, something other than technocratic approaches, and perceiving the avoidance of some other kind of Holocaust in an understanding with the Israeli government. As I have said before, I am the son of Holocaust survivors and Israel does not speak for me. I am currently very disappointed in the leadership of Greece.”

Maybe what is called for is a satiric flash mob protest in the occupied Golan Heights. Speaking of occupation… are the Assad brother occupiers? I’m sorry. There is only one occupation and it is called PALESTINE. Nothing else counts. On the UN in September! Baah.

Nine of the 46 comments on this thread are made by one Zionist. I do think that biorabbi should be given some space here, but must he be allowed to contaminate the site with his spam. Moderators do your work, don’t let out of control spam putrify this site.

Nice of the biorabbi to drop in and attempt to deflect/derail the topic… cute, not unexpected.

I wonder, given that the biorabbi likes the Syrian people so much, what it thinks of Israel illegally acquiring Syrian territory by war, illegally annexing the Golan and illegally settling in Sovereign Syrian territory?

Meanwhile, Hürriyet reports the preliminary findings of the Turkish investigation:

The Irish boat planning to participate in this year’s Gaza-bound aid flotilla was damaged before it entered Turkish waters, according to Turkish authorities who investigated claims by the owner that the ship had been sabotaged while in port in Göcek.

According to initial findings of the inspection, the breakdown of the ship might not be a result of sabotage, a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News on Friday.

Turkish authorities investigated allegations that the Irish-owned ship, the MV “Saoirse” (Freedom), which was planning to participate in Freedom Flotilla 2, was sabotaged in Turkish territorial waters by Israel. The accusations are the second since boats started arriving in the eastern Mediterranean ahead of the flotilla’s planned voyage.

Organizers for the Saoirse said the engine of the Irish vessel was damaged in such a way that the ship would have sunk in the middle of the ocean and that the ship was docked in Turkey’s territorial waters when the tampering occurred.

The “initial findings” of the Turkish investigation, as reported by Hürriyet, were that the boat “was damaged before it entered Turkish waters” and that the breakdown “might not be the result of sabotage”. Not exactly categorical.

For the time being, the theory that it was in fact sabotage and that Israel was behind it still strikes me as the most reasonable explanation. Since this may be a case of attempted murder, I hope that no stone is left unturned.

I think your blog should be more fair, good 50% of my comments will be deleted. I can hammer on the zionists or Israel as much as I want, however, if I dare to mention anything about jewish wrong doings or power, there goes the comment to the wastebasket.

Do not forget that the zionists are also jewish or are supported by a great majority of the jews, so how can you delete any innocent mention of that.

The same would be to pound on the nazis, but do not dare to mention those nazis were also german.

By deleting comment like my comment today about George Soros and his attack on the british pound is nothing more than censorship.

I am not an anti-semite, use no profane language, (contrary to several other commentators), and know history quite well.

Do not use the same methods like the MSM does, what cannot be, it will not be.

Come off of it Theo. I’ve just read through all your comments and there are lots of them way over the line, including the one about George Soros, suggesting that Soros was supported in his attack on the pound by a Jewish cabal.

There is nothing in Soros’s attack on the pound which suggests that participation in that attack was anything other than profit-based.

You are on the edge of being banned. Not employing profanity is no excuse for racism.

Perhaps Alec it is instructive to see where the racism goes. When we make racism the cause of any social action without looking at the social conditions within which the racism occurs and also without checking to see if racism is indeed the reason something happens, the result will be blaming Jews as Jews for anything Jews do whether or not they do it as Jews or for “Jewish” reasons. I don’t see his comment as any less bigoted or demeaning than things that you let through constantly. I just see it as more blatant about its bigotry.

Theo, this website is not particularly concerned with communism or with the history of the Jews but specifically with the Israel-Palestine situation.

Taking every post as an opportunity to run through a catalogue of historical complaints is tedious and has nothing to do with our concern here, which is peace in the Middle East and justice for Palestinians.

I think that one of the people taken off the ship was told by one of the Greeks that ‘it’s your government making us do this’. Perhaps Papandreou has some reason to be grateful to Netanyahu, or to want his goodwill, but I’m sure that even so he would not have taken this drastic action against Americans without direct, top-level American permission, indeed pressure, in turn produced by pressure on Obama by Israel’s many friends.

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